Stewart and Colbert's political 'joke'

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have cast their faux dueling Washington rallies as a kind of grand satire of the current state of media and politics.

“It’s just like everything they do – it’s really for the joke,” said one person familiar with the planning of the October 30 event, who asked – in the spirit of the “Daily Show” – to be described as a “senior administration official.”

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But if it’s a joke, it’s a practical joke — and the targets are Glenn Beck, his followers, and the Republican Party candidates who face election three days after the event.

“Glenn Beck makes a big deal out of how, ‘whatever you believe, all these people are really passionate about the issues, and look at this amazing turnout,’” said the person familiar with the planning. “We’re going to show you how ridiculous Glenn Beck is because we’re going to put two comics up there and they’re going to have more people.”

The event, three days before the crucial midterm elections, may be on track to draw a crowd on Beck’s scale. On Facebook on Monday afternoon, more than 98,000 people said they planned to attend the event, and an additional 50,000 said they might attend.

“It’s like the country’s largest P.S.A., raising awareness and telling young people that there is an election a few days later,” said Heather Smith, the president of the group Rock the Vote, which anticipates up to “hundreds of thousands of young people” on the mall that day.

At a moment when cool, hard irony - a reaction to the heat of the tea party movement - appears to have replaced the hope that buoyed Comedy Central’s young viewers during the 2008 presidential campaign, the rally will be the Democrats’ last best chance to convince a crucial demographic to focus on the midterm elections – and to vote Nov. 2nd.

Last Thursday, when he announced what he called “the rally to restore sanity,” Stewart said he expected “guests,” but this will not, the person close to the event said, an overtly political event. Plans for the march currently include, instead, a musical act and appearances by entertainers.

“There is not going to be messaging around candidates,” the person said.

Stewart and Colbert are making the central planning decision, however, and the plan remains in flux, as their network and two former Clinton aides consulting on the event, Craig Minassian and Chris Wayne, follow their lead.

Comedy Central, Minassian, and Wayne on Monday all declined to comment on the details of the plans beyond what Stewart and Colbert said on their shows. They have filed for a single permit for both rallies. The source said the application was proceeding smoothly, but details of the event – including who will pay for it – remain unclear.

Democratic operatives and organizations, meanwhile, are heatedly debating what to make of the unconventional event, and how to take advantage of it.

Some experts in field organizing even worry that a big attraction on the Mall on the Saturday before Election Day will pull activists out of their districts and away from the crucial door-knocking and phone-banking that can make a difference in the mid-terms.